WASHINGTON: As a ceasefire in the Middle East held successfully for more than 24 hours, US President Barack Obama sat with his family and friends on Thursday for a Thanksgiving dinner.

The traditional American feast began with the president performing an old custom of pardoning a turkey, instead of slaughtering it for the White House dinner.

But more than 150 journalists, who watched the pardoning ceremony, were still focused on the Middle East. “Mr President, can you comment on the ceasefire in the Middle East?” shouted one of them as Mr Obama waived at his guests.

The president walked away with a broad smile but his aides urged journalists to check a statement issued by the State Department, which quoted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as praising Mr Obama’s new ally in the Middle East, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

“Egypt’s new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace,” she said.On Wednesday, President Obama also praised the Egyptian president for playing a pivotal role in bringing about a ceasefire between Gaza militants and Israel.

But the Obama administration’s decision to recognise Egypt’s role in the Middle East peace process has annoyed Republicans and America’s right wing media as both accused the US president of dealing with an extremist leader.

“Right now Egypt is providing political support to a terrorist organisation. If that turns to material support of any kind, Egypt risks designation as a state sponsor of terrorism,” a senior Republican adviser on Capitol Hill told The Washington Post.

“The Morsi government should be on the hot seat right now. Egypt, along with Turkey and Qatar — all ostensible US allies — have been working assiduously to rehabilitate Hamas and integrate the Gaza-based terrorist group into the new Arab regional order,” said Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, which defines itself as a non-partisan think-tank.

President Obama’s “acceptance of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and their ties to Hamas, could be the lynchpin that makes the most recent flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian warfare engulf the region,” warned Monica Crowley of the Fox News.

But the liberal New York Times predicted that despite such criticism, Mr Obama’s new alliance with Mr Morsi may continue.

Senior Obama aides told the newspaper that Mr Obama was “impressed with the Egyptian leader’s pragmatic confidence”.

The White House phone log shows that Mr Obama talked with Mr Morsi three times in 24 hours and six times over the course of several days, the report noted, calling it “an unusual amount of one-on-one time for a president”.

Mr Obama “sensed an engineer’s precision with surprisingly little ideology”, the newspaper added. Most important, Mr Obama told aides that he considered Mr Morsi “a straight shooter” who delivered on what he promised and did not promise what he could not deliver.

“The thing that appealed to the president was how practical the conversations were — here’s the state of play, here are the issues we’re concerned about,” a senior Obama aidetold NYT.

The newspaper noted that the Egyptian side was also positive about the collaboration. Essam el-Haddad, the foreign policy adviser to the Egyptian president, said he saw “a singular partnership developing between Mr Morsi, who is the most important international ally for Hamas, and Mr Obama, who plays essentially the same role for Israel”.

In an editorial comment, The Washington Post explained why the United States and Egypt were cooperating with each other in avoiding yet another war in the Middle East.

“Egypt and the United States have much to lose from further escalation. Neither wants nor can afford a rupture in the Israeli-Egypt peace treaty or the disruption of efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear programme and remove Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” the newspaper noted.

“A quick ceasefire … benefit(s) all sides; the alternative is awful to contemplate,” it added.